Wrenn summary early life and influences largely a satire of american culture, society, and behavior, it critiques middleclass american life and its pressure toward conformity. Although some of the judges wished to award the prize to sinclair lewis s main street, others believe lewis s book to be too negative in its representation of smalltown america. The novel tells the story of carol milford, a young progressive woman raised in st. A librivox recording of main street by sinclair lewis, in the public domain. Sinclair lewis was an american novelist and playwright, best known as the first american to win the nobel prize in literature for his satirical and critical, yet often sympathetic views of middle class american life in the 1920s. The main characters of this classics, fiction story are. Main street is a satirical novel about smalltown life, and is notable for the presence of a strong female protagonist source. Its not the most obviously exciting read, but it finds danger, excitement and drama hidden in the every.
Lewis sends wharton a gracious note of congratulationsafter his loss, and she responds by praising main street. It is the middle stone of three, for the famous son is buried between his father, dr. Satirizing small town life, main street is perhaps sinclair lewiss most famous book, and led in part to his eventual 1930 nobel prize for literature. Main street by sinclair lewis is a satirical novel concerning small town america. Satirizing small town life, main street is perhaps sinclair lewis s most famous book, and led in part to his eventual 1930 nobel prize for literature.
Born february 7, 1885, in the village of sauk centre, minnesota, sinclair lewis began reading books at a young age and kept a diary. Its a big, sprawling book with no discernible plot, like a soap opera. Will kennicott, to leave the city life to which she is accustomed. Lewis novel main street, published in 1920, initially angered residents because of. An awkward youth, lewis did not have a very happy childhood.
The project gutenberg ebook of main street, by sinclair lewis this ebook is for. Main street established lewis as a major american novelist. This library of america series edition is printed on acidfree paper and features smythsewn binding, a full cloth cover, and a ribbon marker. The award reflected his groundbreaking work in the 1920s on books such as main street, babbitt, and arrowsmith. Main street, by sinclair lewis universidade do minho. Grant woods new deal reading of sinclair lewiss main street. He was the first american writer to win the nobel prize in literature. It relates the life and struggles of carol milford kennicott in the small town of gopher prairie, minnesota, as. The first four references are part of the language. Although many literary critics have dismissed him as a novelist and criticized the swedish academy for their choice there is no doubt that few writers of his era had such a profound effect on american culture as he had. The first edition of the novel was published in 1920, and was written by sinclair lewis. You need to find an article by a sociologist or historian that actually analyzes. Main street is a story about carol milford, who is convinced by her new husband, dr.
Winrod, the kansas evangelist whose farright views earned him the nickname the jayhawk nazi. William kennicott and settles in his hometown of gopher prairie, minnesota. This book is available for free download in a number of formats including epub, pdf, azw, mobi and more. This is americaa town of a few thousand, in a region of wheat and corn and dairies and little groves. Lewis graduated from yale university 1907 and was for a time a reporter. They relocate to his hometown of gopher prairie, minnesota, where she is taken aback by the little towns backward ways and ugly appearance. The novel is set in gopher prairie, roughly based on sauk centre, minnesota, lewiss. The first of sinclair lewiss great successes, main street shattered the sentimental american myth of happy smalltown life with its satire of narrowminded provincialism. Grant woods new deal reading of sinclair lewis s main street. He could have talked about the midwestern setting, drawn in simple but exquisite and evocative detail.
Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of main street and what it means. Buy a cheap copy of main street book by sinclair lewis. Lewis felt it would sell 10,000 copies, and his publisher predicted a run of 20,000 would be adequate. Sinclair lewiss main street, published in 1920, was not expected to be a commercial success. The first of sinclair lewiss great successes, main street shattered the sentimental american myth of happy smalltown life with its satire of narrow minded. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 454 pages and is available in paperback format. In the first six months of 1921, it sold 180,000 copies. His very first book was a childrens book published in 1912 titled hank and the aeroplane that he rarely mentioned and downplayed throughout his life. Ill make em put in a village green, and darling cottages, and a quaint main street. Modeling his fictional midwestern town on his real minnesota home town, lewis.
It relates the life and struggles of carol milford kennicott in the small town of gopher prairie, minnesota, as she comes into conflict with the smalltown mentality of its residents. Pdf main street book by sinclair lewis free download. Book summary in writing main street, sinclair lewis paid little attention to formal plot development. Mar 16, 2014 we never do find that out, for she doesnt know herself, and that is perhaps the most real and relatable thing about main street. The best works of sinclair lewis collection of best works of sinclair lewis including main street, babbitt, free air, our mr wrenn, the innocents, the job, the trail of the hawk by. Sinclair lewiss main street minnesota digital library. His father, a physician, led a strictly disciplined life, and his mother died when he was six. Mar 06, 2015 when selling main street by sinclair lewis, my husband had a lot of options for how to pitch the story to a reader. The campground at one end and the park bandshell nearest to main street. She marries will kennicott, a doctor, who is a smalltown boy at heart. If you just find the novel flatout depressing, it probably fits more into the. Main street by sinclair lewis full text free book full text archive. Pastores list, a guide to films based on works of sinclair lewis, which appears in the sinclair lewis society newsletter spring 1998.
He was born in sauk centre, minnesota and grew to become one of the most famous authors. Etsy is the home to thousands of handmade, vintage, and oneofakind products and gifts related to your search. Sinclair lewis park sauk centre 2020 all you need to know. A summary of chapters 11 in sinclair lewiss main street. This remains to me a book not so much about the mythical carol kennicott as it is about the real man sinclair lewis, based as it is on his own experiences of growing up in sauk center, minnesota. The project gutenberg ebook of main street, by sinclair lewis this ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. Sinclair lewis was an american novelist and a short story writer. Determination of all lexical items types and their frequencies from the normalized corpus by ngram analysis.
Through his novels, sinclair expressed his views on such topics as narrow minds in small towns and insincere preachers. The novel is set in gopher prairie, roughly based on sauk centre, minnesota, lewis s. Lewis, was a physician and a stern disciplinarian who had difficulty relating to his sensitive, unathletic third son. Main street dover thrift editions by lewis, sinclair and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Sinclair lewis was nominated for the pulitzer prize for main street and babbitt, and won the award for arrowsmith although he turned it down. Main street was an immediate, phenomenal success when it was published in 1920, making it the book of the century up to that point. Oct 24, 20 sinclair lewiss critique of american culture. Trying to do a merge of main street with high street reeks of original research in violation of the strict no original research policy. Sinclair lewis he hadnt even any satisfaction in the new watercooler. Wed get sick on too many cookies, but ever so much sicker on no cookies at all.
Its fair to say that main street might be considered either a realist novel or a satire, depending on how funny you actually find it. The above is the inscription on an unpretentious marker in the cemetery of sauk centre, minnesota. Sinclair lewis biography childhood, life achievements. America in the 1920s primary source collection oh, were hopeless, we dissatisfied women. Sinclair lewis main street american history ii with ms. Sinclair lewis i am writing to tell you how glad i am that you wrote main street. Carol milford kennicott, a graduate of sanctimonious blodgett college, with a year of additional study in a chicago library school, works as a librarian in st.
Main street, originally published in 1920, is the story of a sophisticated young woman who moves to a small town in the american midwest in 1912 and struggles against the smallminded culture of the citizens who live there. Jan 21, 2006 free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. In other words, lewis himself likely thought of main street as a realist novel describing the malaise of a dissatisfied housewife. Gasbuddy just released their q2 report card and sinclair oil corporation was recognized in three categories based on. Reflecting his own unhappy childhood in sauk centre, minnesota, lewiss sixth novel attacked the conformity and dullness he saw in midwestern village life. American novelist and playwright, and the first american author to be awarded the nobel prize in literature. Sinclair lewiss novel main street is a scathing indictment of life in smalltown america during the early years of the 20th century. Thsi is a part of a series published in the 1920s of great authors, sinclair lewiss portrait of middle class america. Sinclair lewis born on february 7, 1885, was one of the american authors in the 1920s for short stories, novels, and playwright. Main street, the story of an idealistic young womans attempts to reform her small town, brought lewis. The remarkable novels presented here in this library of america volume combine brilliant satire with a lingering affection for the men and women, who, as lewis.
Chapter 1 the reader is introduced to carol milford, a beautiful, young woman trying to find her place in the world. Her mother they had buried near the monongahelathe girl herself had heaped with torn sods the grave beside the river of the beautiful name. Sinclair lewis, max besont, and henry james by martin buceo, colorado state university during his 1908 summer in iowa as a coltish reporter on the waterloo daily courier, sinclair lewis, just graduated from yale, editoriauy auuded to henry james, whose work no man can read schorer 143. On the other hand, the sinclair lewis boyhood home, which sits just off main street and is also open to visitors most days of the week, is well maintained and boasts, in the person of a parttime. Arrowsmith sinclair lewis chapter 1 the driver of the wagon swaying through forest and swamp of the ohio wilderness was a ragged girl of fourteen. Sinclair lewis books, ebooks, audiobooks, biography. We spent the afternoon walking the fairly long tshaped dock which juts out onto the lake, sitting by the pool fountain with the childs statue, and watching the. Here, sinclair lewis is reminding us that theres nothing in life thats 100% good.
Satire and social reform in sinclair lewiss novels main street and. He was a member of the national institute of arts and letters and the american academy of arts and letters. He wrote his classic books main street 1920, babbitt 1922, arrowsmith 1925, and elmer gantry 1927 while living in the capital. Will kennicott carols husband, is a competent but practicalminded physician. This is a list of film versions of sinclair lewiss novels, adapted from stephen r. Collecting main street by lewis, sinclair first edition. Jan 20, 2002 lewis s wife, emma, was reluctant to make the move, for the new town was barren of trees and grass and flowers, a raw western village of falsefronted stores along a dusty, unpaved main street. Carol milford is a young, liberated woman from saint paul, minnesota, who marries a smalltown doctor named will kennicott. But its main street is the continuation of main streets everywhere.
Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Harry sinclair lewis was born february 7, 1885, in the small minnesota town of sauk centre, which would ultimately provide the model for the town of gopher prairie in main street. This is the fourth of his works that i have read elmer gantry, main street and babbit being the others and although i didnt like arrowsmith quite as much as those three, i still couldnt put it down. He had two older siblings, fred born 1875 and claude born 1878. Consequently the narrative presents a series of episodes rather than a tightly constructed plot. See the article in its original context from february 3, 2002, section 7, page 4 buy reprints. In 1919, sherwood andersons poetic stories of smalltown folk in winesburg, ohio sold only a few thousand copies. Main street, sinclair lewis main street is a satirical novel written by sinclair lewis, and published in 1920.
Wikimedia commons has media related to sinclair lewis. They relocate to his hometwon of gopher prairie, minnesota, where she is taken aback by the little towns backward ways and ugly appearance, which she sets about to improve. It cant happen here is a semisatirical political novel by sinclair lewis published in 1935. This category has the following 2 subcategories, out of 2 total. He won the nobel prize for literature in 1930, the first given to an american. Main street main street 1920 by sinclair lewis is a critique of capitalism through a feminist lens, among other things. As only his home town could know him sauk centre herald sinclair lewis 1885 1951 the internet public library, online literary criticism collection sinclair lewis 18851951 new grub street lewis, sinclair writer 18851951 american history 102. You may copy it, give it away or reuse it under the terms of the project gutenberg license included with this ebook or online at. Lewis, and his mother, emma kermott lewis, who died when harry, as he was then called, was six years old.
Main street 1920 is a story about carol milford, who is convinced by her new husband, dr. This book is subtitled a rebel from main street, but in my view, sinclair lewis was never a rebel he was a survivor. Sinclair lewis biography life, story, history, wife. The first american writer to win the nobel prize for literature 1930, sinclair lewis lived and worked in dc during what would be his most productive period. The range of reactions to main street when it was published in 1920 was extraordinary, reflecting the ambivalence in the novel itself and lewis s own mixed feelings about his hometown of sauk centre, minnesota, the prototype for gopher prarie. Thus she triumphed through the class, which was a typical blodgett contest between a dreary teacher and unwilling children of twenty, won by the teacher because his opponents had to answer his questions, while their treacherous queries he could counter by.
Sinclair lewiss book is wellknown among most american intellectuals, particularly in the humanities and social sciences. It features newspaperman doremus jessup struggling against the fascist regime of president berzelius buzz windrip, who resembles gerald b. You can also read the full text online using our ereader. Known for their satirical take on modern affairs, his bestknown books include main street, arrowsmith, babbitt, and dodsworth.
But it was not until his sixth novel, main street 1920, that he won recognition as an important american novelist, the first to challenge the myth of the happy quintessentially american small town. Free download or read online main street pdf epub book. Sinclair oil is in the top five gas brands overall in the 1,0003,999 locations category of gasbuddys q3 report card for fuel and convenience brands. The librivox catalog page for this work lists the librivox readers. In writing main street, sinclair lewis paid little attention to formal plot development. Although he was proud of his midwestern roots, he traveled widely and was interested in many different aspects of american society, from business and medicine to religion and small town life.
On the huge sales of main street, the reasons for its success, and lewis s feelings about its popularity. The town is, in our tale, called gopher prairie, minnesota. Gasbuddy debuts new consumer ranking for fuel and convenience brands. Sinclair lewis 1885 1951 sinclair lewis february 7, 1885 january 10, 1951 was an american novelist and playwright born harry sinclair lewis in sauk centre, minnesota, he began reading books at a young age and kept a diary. A dreamer, at age he unsuccessfully ran away from home, wanting to become a drummer boy in the spanishamerican war. Sometimes, for example, you can run into a bunch of bugs that make your experience miserable.
Main street summary babbitt summary masterpiece works adapted our mr. Sinclair lewis, american novelist and social critic who punctured american complacency with his broadly drawn, widely popular satirical novels. Champ is the salt of the earth but somehow i cant imagine him joining you in. Main street by sinclair lewis free ebook project gutenberg. Carol milford is a liberal, freespirited young woman, reared in the metropolis of minneapolis. It was the first in a string of novels written by sinclair lewis in the 1920s, including babbitt, arrowsmith, and elmer gantry, that established him as one of the preeminent authors of american literature. Carol kennicott in rebellion against smalltown boredom, is the nonconformist central figure of the novel dr.
And it was the very best of watercoolers, uptodate, scientific, and rightthinking. The town, gopher prairie, is closely patterned on sauk centre, minnesota, which is where sinclair. The story follows carol milford, a liberal and freespirited woman, as she marries dr. Main street 1920 by sinclair lewis is a critique of capitalism through a feminist lens, among other things. The romance of sinclair lewis by gore vidal the new. Sinclair lewis s main street, published in 1920, was not expected to be a commercial success. Will kennicott just after college and moves to the small town of gopher prairie, minnesota. Later novels and the nobel prize lewiss next popular novel, arrowsmith 1925, returned to the form of main street to portray a young doctors battle to maintain his dignity in a petty, dishonest world. Born in 1885 in minnesota, sinclair lewis worked as a newspaper journalist before becoming an acclaimed novelist.
Main street is a satirical novel written by sinclair lewis, and published in 1920. Despite its often simplistic look at science as a means of saving ones. Sinclair lewiss main street is a long meditation on this peculiarly american combination of freedom and rigidity. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. Paul, who marries will kennicott, a smalltown doctor. Lewiss first successful novel was 1920s main street, followed two years later by babbitt, which solidified his reputation as a force in literature. Sinclair lewis, the first american to win the nobel prize for literature, was born in sauk centre, minnesota, in 1885.
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